Russia's Lukoil boosts 2013's planned investment to USD20b

(MENAFN) Lukoil chief executive, Vagit Alekperov, announced that the Russian company has boosted this year's investment from the planned USD16 billion to USD20 billion, reported Reuters. The figure is compared with total investments of USD12 billion in 2012. Alekperov added that the country's second-largest crude producer will also raise hydrocarbon output by 3 percent, from previous plans of between 1.5 percent and 2 percent. Lukoil's hydrocarbon output gained 0.5 percent in 2012, reaching 2.17 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, driven by a growth in natural gas production. It is worth noting that in order to offset a decline in Russian output, the company has been purchasing upstream assets, including Iraq's huge West Qurna-2 oilfield, and small Russian producer Samara-Nafta, whose output stands at 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, at the current time.